NEW DELHI: India reported 5,335 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, a jump of nearly 1,000 cases from Wednesday’s tally. This is also the highest single day rise in Covid-19 cases since September 23 last year.
As per union health ministry data, 13 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, of which seven were backlog (reconciled) deaths by Kerala.
The other Covid-19 deaths were reported from Karnataka and Maharashtra, where two deaths each were recorded. This is followed by one death each from Kerala and Punjab.
As Covid-19 cases are seeing a surge, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Madaviya will hold a virtual meeting with states and union territories' health ministers on measures taken to combat the situation.
As per data, the active cases in the country went up by 2,496 and recoveries by 2,826. The total active cases in the country now stand at 25,587. Among the states, Kerala has 8,229 active cases, followed by Delhi 1,795 and Maharashtra 3,874.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.32 percent while the weekly positivity rate has been pegged at 2.89 percent.
As per the data, Kerala saw a rise of 1,404 in daily active cases. Himachal Pradesh reported 212 rise in daily active cases, while Tamil Nadu 130.
According to officials, the sudden surge in India is triggered by Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16, which was first detected in Maharashtra’s Pune in March.
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On the eve of World Health Day, WHO on Thursday called for concerted and urgent efforts to bridge gaps accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve health for all through universal health coverage.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said the world health body is fully committed to achieving health for all through universal health coverage (UHC) and facilitating access to essential health services for all without financial hardship.
On World Health Day, which will be observed on Friday, the WHO celebrates 75 years of improving public health and well-being globally.
Last week, the WHO had said that they are closely tracking the XBB.1.16, which is said to be circulating in 22 countries, but predominantly in India.
On March 22, WHO added XBB.1.16 to its list of variants under active monitoring.